Sophia's Reviews > Vows of Empire

The build up to the final confrontation from the beginning lead to this moment. An enemies to lovers romance with a twist set in the backdrop of far future space and two clashing empires. The first book in the trilogy grabbed my attention and now I am excited to see it come to an exciting end.

Vows of Empire is part of an ongoing story so doesn’t make a good place to jump in.

The tale started when two young guys became friends at the Umber space academy. One was a promising, young Umber and the other a scholarship student from the conquered Archon empire. Then a late night attempt to kill Gal made him go on the run with Ettian and share the secret that he was the Umber heir and he had to stop this attempt at a coup.
The two young men go on the lamb to keep from getting captured and their adventure leads them to a savvy street gang member, Wen, who ties in with them and then the Archon resistance who can’t know Gal’s identity. They don’t speak of feelings, but Gal has never treasured before what he has with Ettien. His mother tried to make him tough, cold and ambitious, but all he wants to do is stop the brutal conquering machine of Umber might.
If Gal thought his confession was a shocker, Ettien’s is mindblowing to him. And the twists keep coming in this building story of twists, betrayals, and machinations.

I have been very taken with this series from the beginning. It has a good blend of worldbuilding, fast-paced action, intrigue, but, most of all, complicated relationships. Gal and Ettien started it and then Wen emerged as a main character and lastly, Hanzi, emerged. Everyone seems to have their own secrets and secret agenda. Vows of Empire began with Gal and Ettien far from each other and no solution in sight as to how any of it, from the two warring empires to the two enemy lovers, would resolve. I started to get an inkling early on what was really going on so I wasn’t very shocked by the surprise moments. Still, I could appreciate seeing how it all played out. I’m a little hazy on where things finally went on a grand scale because there wasn’t a final resolution there, but the main story, started in the beginning, got resolution.

This was very much YA in some ways, particularly how the characters thought and behaved. I was grateful to be spared as much of Gal’s thinking since this one had four narrators including the two young women, Wen and Hanzi. In truth, Wen and Hanzi tended to overshadow Gal and, especially, Ettien. They were forces of nature and took initiative and faced the bulk of the danger and fights. The romance was undergirding the story, but was understated and not heated like in most YAs.

This one wound out like a chess match because the plotters had a long game going and much of the book was spent getting their pieces properly placed. But, it didn’t lag and kept up the tension throughout. Those who enjoy exciting Young Adult LGBT Sci-fi or Space Opera should definitely give it a go.

I rec’d an eARC from NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.